


starlight rain

by whimsicalMelancholy



Category: Block B
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, art students jaehyo and jiho mMmMmmmHm, everyone is in different grades and apaprently i can't make my mind up, jaehyo is popular as fuck and jihos just a shy and nervous lil bean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 08:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8743423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicalMelancholy/pseuds/whimsicalMelancholy
Summary: Jaehyo is perfect, Jiho thinks. Too perfect for someone like him. To him, Ahn Jaehyo and Woo Jiho, straight A honor roll student and C-B student, surrounded by girls and crushing on boys, a beautiful face without any makeup and eyeliner too sharp, belong in completely different worlds: perfect, and not-perfect.A single art class changes everything.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> wowee i'm trying to write a long thing let's see how this goes

ahn jaehyo is the most perfect person there is.

 

there’s really no question about it, jiho thinks.

 

even if jiho himself is just a sophomore and jaehyo’s a junior, everyone knows the name ahn jaehyo. after all, who wouldn’t know about the most gorgeous straight-a ulzzang in the school?

 

jiho hasn’t talked to jaehyo personally, of course. he’s too intimidated by that flawless model that’s always has a smile on his face and fangirls clinging onto him at every turn. there’s no way that someone like him, some kid with eyeliner too sharp and hair too blonde with grades just barely passing could ever be seen around that studious pretty boy. not a chance, he thinks. 

 

“you’re so whipped,” kyung comments nonchalantly when jiho is telling him all of this. in response, jiho grumbles and reaches his arm over to smack kyung where he’s sitting.

 

“shut up,” he grumbles. “i am not.” jiho can almost hear kyung roll his eyes.

 

“do you even hear yourself? you make jaehyo sound like he’s some kind of perfect being sent down from heaven itself,” kyung points out. “you are totally head over heels for that guy.”

 

jiho just grumbles again, slumping down lower in his chair.

 

“he  _ is _ perfect,” jiho mumbles under his breath. “he’s not a mess like i am. and he’s not gay, either.”

 

kyung turns to look at jiho, slightly disbelieving. 

 

“are you serious right now?”

 

“what?” jiho says, turning to look at kyung from an awkward angle.

 

“nobody is perfect, jiho. we’re all messes,” kyung says with a sigh. “you know that as well as i do. and you don’t know about that.”

 

jiho flinches at the comment as though kyung is specifically referring to him even though he isn’t, and he seems to take notice.

 

“shit, dude, i’m sorry…” kyung says, sounding as hurt as jiho feels, reaching a hand out to gently pat jiho’s shoulder. jiho lets out a gentle sigh.

 

“it’s okay, i just,” he sighs again. “i don’t know. i just really admire him, i guess.” he shrugs as kyung removes his hand from jiho’s shoulder.

 

“just...don’t idolize him too much, okay?” kyung warns. “there’s no such thing as perfection.”

 

“yeah,” jiho says dismissively. “alright.”

 

of course, that doesn’t stop jiho at all.


	2. Chapter 2

the first time jiho heard the name ahn jaehyo was during freshman year.

 

“so, see any cute guys around?” his friend taeil, a junior and a middle school friend asks him teasingly after the first week of school. “any to your liking?”

 

he hears kyung stifle a giggle from next to him and jiho rolls his eyes playfully, tapping a finger on his chin as if he’s in deep thought.

 

“hmm, there’s this boy named… yukwon, i think, in my english class, but i heard he has a girlfriend,” he says as he scrunches up his face in mock disappointment. he reaches over to pinch kyung’s unsuspecting face, causing him to wail dramatically. “although i suppose my little kyunggie here would do just fine~”

 

“yah, jiho, quit it! i’m trying a new skin care routine that’s called  _ my best friend not pinching my face like an aunty _ !”

 

they all laugh as jiho drops his hand from kyung’s face. kyung rubs at his possibly bruised face and ego childishly, pouting at jiho.

 

“oh! kim yukwon? he’s in my geography, but he’s not really my type,” taeil says nonchalantly. “besides, i have jihoon anyway. you like the pretty ones, don’t you?”

 

if it’s anything that anyone knows about lee taeil, it’s that he’s gay. he was the gay kid in middle school, and that’s how jiho became friends with him in seventh grade. at the time, he was a closeted kid and his only friend was his childhood buddy park kyung. once jiho heard that taeil was gay too, jiho made it his mission to talk to him. taeil quickly became his go-to guy to talk about cute guys with, even if half the time taeil disagreed because he was dating a boy two grades under him named pyo jihoon. jiho thought that was a little weird, but they were really cute and happy together so he didn’t quite mind.

 

“why, see anyone for me?” jiho croons, looking exaggeratedly interested.

 

“yeah, actually. there’s this boy in my english named jaehyo. you’ve probably heard of him, ahn jaehyo? he’s this super popular ulzzang. if you ever see a swarm of girls and a random tuft of brown hair sticking out the middle, it’s probably him,” taeil informs him. “oh, and he’s an honor roll student too. he was in some of my classes last year, too. teacher’s pet, honestly. we used to talk a little bit. not sure about his orientation though.”

 

“why did you never tell us about him?” kyung butts in.

 

taeil shrugs. “didn’t seem particularly important. it was mostly about homework, anyway.”

 

“ah, lee taeil, you wound me! i thought we were important to you!” kyung says with a flourish, one hand over his heart and the back of the other to his forehead, pretending to faint.

 

“shut  _ up _ , park kyung, you big baby,” jiho snorts. they all laugh again and soon move onto other topics, but somewhere in the back of his mind, jiho keeps the name  _ ahn jaehyo _ stored there for future reference.


	3. Chapter 3

from then on, from freshman year all throughout where he is now, it’s as if the name ahn jaehyo follows him around everywhere. he manages to catch wind of all of the rumors, but it’s never anything bad. jaehyo is just so genuinely well-liked it’s almost unreal.  things like  _ hey, did you know jaehyo aced that math test everyone else failed? _ or  _ yesterday i saw and overheard a girl confessing to jaehyo-hyung and he got all flustered and apologized and told her she was pretty but he wasn’t good enough for her. _

 

when he hears the last one, jiho can’t help but blush furiously. that’s really fucking cute, he thinks. he’s seen jaehyo few times in the main hall, and the idea of jaehyo being cute and flustered sends his heart aflutter.

 

it continues like that for the next week. jiho hearing whispers of the name he’s come to keep an ear out for, just to hear about jaehyo, what he’s like, and taeil and kyung making fun of him for liking jaehyo.

 

he doesn’t  _ like _ jaehyo, he doesn’t even know him, he just… really admires him. jaehyo’s always getting really good grades and he’s so sociable and conventionally attractive, he’s just…

 

everything jiho isn’t, he reminds himself as he steps into music club, kyung and taeil by his side like always. jiho just really wanted to go home, and he wasn’t planning on joining any clubs anyway, but taeil managed to drag him here, weirdly insistent, and of course kyung backed him up.  _ you need to get out more,  _ he reprimanded jiho like an upset mother.

 

eventually, he caved in, and that’s how he’s here now, taking a seat in the classroom. he heard the president of the club was a popular senior that shadows even jaehyo named kwon jiyong, apparently some kind of prodigious rapper and composer. jiho supposes that’s an okay enough reason to be here against his will.

 

“don’t look now,” taeil whispers from the seat next to jiho. “but here comes your favorite flower boy now.”

 

confused at first, jiho glances at the door and almost chokes on the air he’s breathing when he sees the brown-haired head of ahn jaehyo himself, accompanied by a black haired boy with dimples in his smile and an unnatural redhead with the brightest smile jiho’s ever seen. he can’t help but stare at jaehyo as he smiles at jiyong, who acknowledges him with a tilt of the head. he snaps out of his reverie when jaehyo turns around and makes eye contact with him for a split second and immediately looks down at his very interesting hands with thumbs twiddling around and he can feel the blood rush to his cheeks as taeil and kyung try to stifle their laughter. 

 

“shut up,” jiho hisses, smacking both of them gently. “he might hear you.”

 

“don’t worry,” kyung giggles back. “we won’t embarrass you any more than you do yourself already.”

 

jiho is half a second away from punching kyung right in his stupid dumb face but a voice jiho assumes to be jiyong’s, a slim, fashionable and feminine boy with messy gentle red hair interrupts, announcing the start of music club.

 

“hey everyone, welcome to seoul high school’s music club. i’m your president, kwon jiyong. today is just the introductory meeting, so for today we’ll just introduce ourselves and tell you what this club is all about.

 

“so let me introduce myself first: like i said, my name is kwon jiyong, and i’m the president of the club. i’m a rapper, lyric writer, and composer. our vice president, resident vocalist is kang daesung,” he says, pointing to a smiling boy with brown hair and a big nose who waves excitedly.

 

“this here is our secretary, dong youngbae,” jiyong says, motioning to an objectively handsome guy who’s barely wearing a shirt. jiho swears he can see youngbae’s nipple.

 

“our treasurer is lee seunghyun,” he says with a wave to a white-haired boy. “or little seunghyun. we just call him seungri though, since we have big seunghyun already.”

 

he says the last part in a whisper and a chubby but handsome guy smacks jiyong on the shoulder playfully, who laughs and rubs his shoulder dramatically. they seem to get along really well, jiho notes.

 

“his real name is choi seunghyun though, and he’s our historian.”

 

his eyes flicker over to jaehyo, who by some chance catches jiho’s gaze and smiles with a little wave. jiho thinks he’s having a heart attack as his head ducks down almost violently. he can hear kyung snicker from next to him. for that, jiho kicks him from under the table just as soon as jiyong asks them to introduce themselves, starting from the right.

 

“give us your name, school level, and what kind of music or area of music composition you’re interested in.”

 

there are only about fifteen students or so in the club, so it doesn’t take long for them to get to jaehyo and his friends.

 

“i’m lee minhyuk, i’m a sophomore and i’m only here because yukwon and jaehyo made me,” the dimpled boy says, eliciting laughs from the other members. “i’m not even good at singing. also, i play piano.”

 

“my name is kim yukwon, i’m a freshman and i like to sing too,” the redhead smiles. “but minhyuk and i are both dancers too.”

 

it’s jaehyo’s turn to stand up, and jiho finds himself fixated on the tall boy.

 

“hello!” he says with a bow. jiho’s almost feels his heart melt. “my name is ahn jaehyo. nice to meet you all! i’m a sophomore and i sing as sort of a hobby. sometimes i write songs too. it’s nothing special though…”

 

jaehyo says the last bit with a shy laugh, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. it’s so, so cute, jiho thinks.

 

“psst,” taeil nudges jiho as he's sitting down after finishing his introduction. “your turn.”

 

shit, jiho must’ve been lost in jaehyo’s introduction. he stands up with a start, rocking the table and bumping his legs and almost tripping over his chair, the loud clatter accompanied by familiar snickers and some unfamiliar.

 

“ah! shit!” he yelps to himself, doubling over. he quickly tries to correct himself and stutters out an introduction of some sort.

 

“s-sorry! um, i, i’m woo jiho,” he says with a deep bow. “i’m a- a freshman, and i… like to rap, and, um, compose. and-- and write.”

 

he immediately sits back down, staring at his folded hands in his lap, embarrassed beyond belief. he really, really hopes jaehyo didn’t see that.

 

“jaehyo totally saw that,” kyung whispers from next to him before standing up to give his own, smoother introduction.

 

“oh my god,” he whispers to himself, face buried in his hands. he is beyond mortified. “i’m a fucking train wreck.”

 

“not gonna disagree with you there,” kyung says cheerfully, sitting down after his introduction. a few students and thoughts about how jiho can make kyung’s death look like an accident later, jiyong begins to explain what music club is all about.

 

“honestly, there’s not much to say,” he starts. “we’re just dedicated to making and listening to music. we can write songs, critique each other on our lyrics, anything music-related goes.”

 

“don’t ask ji to critique you though, he’s ruthless,” seunghyun teases. jiyong shoves him lightly and he laughs.

 

“oh! also, at the end of the year in march, there’s a school-wide club fair, where everyone can show off their stuff, and we’ll have a joint performance with the dance team,” jiyong mentions. “we’ll be like a k-pop group.”

 

jiho almost cringes at the mention of that. all of his hyungs in the underground rap scene chastise him for bringing up k-pop and the  _ “pitiful excuses for rappers” _ that the groups have. still, he thinks some of them aren’t half bad. heck, taeil’s boyfriend jihoon could totally be an idol rapper.

 

“which obviously means there’s going to be a rap line, a dance line, and a singing line,” jiyong adds on.

 

“he’s not just saying that because he’s a terrible singer,” youngbae butts in. “which he is.”

 

“i am not!”

 

“karaoke last week begs to differ,” daesung adds with a snicker.

 

“shut up, anyone would look bad next to you,” jiyong mumbles. “but that’s besides the point. i wanna show you guys a video from our performance last year, which, by the way, is pretty awesome.”

 

the lights go out and youngbae turns on the projector, fiddling with one of the laptops nearby until he gets a video up on the screen. jiho recognizes jiyong right in the front, his obnoxiously colored hair, colored like cotton candy jiho used to eat at carnivals, standing out and also striking a dramatic pose with both seunghyuns and daesung and youngbae. he also sees taeil, and oh, he definitely sees jaehyo there, with a big, nervous grin, and it’s so ridiculously cute.

 

when the music starts, his eyes are transfixed on jaehyo’s body not quite dancing, but rather swaying to the upbeat rhythm of the song. jiho forgets how to breath when jaehyo gets up to the front and starts to sing. the camera and audio quality is good enough to catch the nervous quiver in his voice and shaky smile, but he’s somehow still radiating an aura of confidence and he looks so happy to be up there that it just makes jiho’s heart melt.

 

jaehyo’s part doesn’t last long and he goes to the back while seunghyun takes over, but jiho is hyper focused on the way jaehyo looks on stage, throughout the entire video, standing as tall and proud as he can as a shy freshman. sweat sticks his hair to his forehead and he runs a hand through it, messing it up beautifully.

 

the video eventually fades to black after a round of resounding applause, and the club members clap too. jiho can see through the darkness of the club classroom minhyuk poking at jaehyo playfully and the latter laughing and shying away from his teasing friend.

 

“we should start preparing for the club activity,” jiyong says, the projector turning of and the lights coming back on. “as soon as possible. who’s interested in participating?”

 

jiho’s hand acts on its own, shooting up into the air, surprising both taeil and kyung. he can see jaehyo and his friends raising their hands, and taeil and kyung raising their hands as well. Several other students and the club officers also raise their hands and jiyong counts, grinning when he announces, “great! we can have a thirteen-membered group!”

 

he puts a finger on his chin and thinks for a moment.

 

“there’s really nothing else for me to say,” jiyong declares, “but next meeting we’ll talk about what kinds of music we like and we can talk about the composition and lyrics! see you all next week!”

 

there’s a scraping of chairs as everyone gets up from their seats and heads for the door. as soon as they’re in the hallway and probably out of earshot of jaehyo and his friends, 

 

“have fun drooling over your flower boy today?”

 

jiho can feel a blush rising to his cheeks, just trying to walk faster to get away from his laughing friends. they catch up to him easily.

 

“hey,” taeil says, crooning. “don’t worry, i’ll make sure that this year we do a romantic performance.”

 

“yeah!” kyung agrees enthusiastically. “you and jaehyo can be the leads!”

 

jiho makes a choked noise and and lets out a whine. he can no longer deny that he has a crush on jaehyo. it’s painfully obvious at this point. jiho can't lie to himself anymore, but that's not stopping him from telling himself ‘it's just a  _ little  _ crush.’

 

“ah,” taeil starts, suddenly remembering something. “i heard that jaehyo’s getting a schedule change soon since his schedule got messed up. you guys both have the same art teacher, right? maybe you’ll be in the same class.”

 

being in a class? with jaehyo? for the  _ whole year? _

 

jiho thinks he’s going to faint.


	4. Chapter 4

jiho is definitely going to faint.

 

when miss lee, the eccentric, small, short blue-haired art teacher tells the art 2 drawing 1 class that  _ this is ahn jaehyo, he'll be joining us this school year. he transferred from a different class period, but be sure to welcome him! _ , jiho's halfway to having a heart attack.

 

“pick any empty seat you like,” miss lee tells jaehyo with a smile. jaehyo nods and smiles back and thanks her and jaehyo sits, out of all the empty seats in the room, the one closest to the almost-deceased jiho. the tables are arranged in a way that has jaehyo's back perpendicular to jiho's, which is way,  _ way _ too close to give the nervous train wreck named woo jiho any level of comfort.

 

“hey,” jaehyo whispers to jiho with a smile. “woo jiho, right? you're in music club?”

 

inside, jiho is screaming. he is screeching out into the abyss and the abyss is panicking just as much as he is.

 

“um, i’m,” he stutters. “that’s me. yeah. hi.”

 

_ wow. way to fuck that up tremendously,  _ he tells himself. _ are you blushing? does he see you blushing? oh god-- _

 

“i’m jaehyo,” he introduces with a bright, easy smile.  _ yes, i know, all too well,  _ jiho says to himself. “nice to meet you, jiho.” he then turns his attention to miss lee, talking animatedly about the project they’ll be doing for their sketchbook.

 

this is going to be an eventful year. that, jiho is sure of.

 

\------

 

every other day, jiho wakes up with nervous butterflies frantically yelling inside his stomach at the prospect of seeing jaehyo again.

 

with how much jiho is staring at jaehyo, jaehyo catches him a few times and sends an easy smile his way every time, turning the younger boy into a blushing mess who finds his project really, really interesting. in his free time, when they are allowed to free draw or jiho’s finished with his current activity, he’ll pull out his personal sketchbook and his nice pencils and start drawing his pretty flower boy here and there. and when he says here and there, he

means just about all the time. he probably has five pages of small little drawings of jaehyo and more than a few of larger drawings, of jaehyo smiling and laughing and just generally being beautiful.

 

occasionally, jaehyo, on the way back to his seat from grabbing materials, will peek over jiho’s shoulder and smile and compliment him on whatever project he’s working on at the moment, leaving jiho to stutter out a nervous thank you and a fluttering heart for the rest of the day.

 

for the most part, jaehyo and jiho both are quiet. while jiho tends to listen to music while he’s working on his art project, jaehyo doesn’t have any earbuds or headphones blasting obscene american rap music like jiho does, but still, jaehyo’s concentrated, tongue licking at his lips every once in awhile. jiho takes peeks at jaehyo’s artwork every once in awhile, and he can’t help but be blown away every time. jaehyo has his own unique style of art, but it’s beautiful and elegant and as soft and gentle as he is. jiho really, really likes it. jiho really, really likes jaehyo.

 

it’s not until a month or two into jaehyo’s switch into jiho’s third period art class that they get their portrait drawing project. 

 

“the first part of this project, i’ll give you two or three class periods to do. we’ll pull out the mirrors and draw ourselves,” miss lee tells the them. jiho’s spent plenty of time practicing drawing faces on himself so this isn’t too bad at all. it’s when she says, “then, we’ll pick partners and draw each other! remember to start with basic shapes and to include plenty of shading!” that he starts freaking out. he wants to draw jaehyo, not privately like a creepy weirdo, but he doesn’t know how he’ll go about asking jaehyo to be his partner. jiho’s heart flutters in happy anxiety at the prospect of jaehyo studying every line in his face and sketching it out. oh god, what if he looks bad? what if he has a pimple or jaehyo already has his partner or what if jaehyo doesn’t even  _ want  _ to be jiho’s partner and--

 

“hey, jiho,” a familiar gentle voice asks from somewhere behind him. red-faced, jiho whips around to see jaehyo smiling at him. “wanna be my partner for the partner drawing project?”

 

jiho’s pretty sure he’s crying right now he’s so anxious, his heart is racing and his face is warm but he somehow manages to reply with a stuttering, “y-yeah, s-sure.”

 

jaehyo grins, getting up.

 

“want me to go grab you a mirror?”

 

“s-sure,” jiho mumbles. “...thank you.”

 

jaehyo gives him a thumbs up and leaves to the back of the room to leave a violently blushing jiho alone to his nervous thoughts once again. 

 

it doesn’t take long for jaehyo to return, two mirrors in hand.

 

“here,” he says, handing one to jiho. “pretty sure this was the only one that wasn’t broken somehow.”

 

the comment alone makes jiho blush just a little bit more. just the thought of jaehyo picking out the only one that actually looked like it belonged in an art classroom makes him warm down to his toes. did jaehyo specifically pick that mirror just for him? or maybe he thinks jiho is so ugly he needs the best mirror to compensate--these thoughts run a mile a minute across his mind, but when jaehyo’s large, spread out hands brush against his when he hands over the mirror, all these thoughts flee from his mind like the light pushing away shadows.

 

oh, he is so whipped.


	5. Chapter 5

“and our fingers brushed! we touched hands!” jiho relays excitedly to taeil and kyung on the way home. there’s a little bounce in his step and he’s grinning like a weirdo, but that fluttering feeling in his heart is more than enough to make him not care.

 

“you are head over heels, jiho,” kyung comments. “you do know that, right?”

 

“i should have never told you about him,” taeil jokes. “you’re way too gone.”

 

“i know,” jiho admits shyly. “he probably doesn’t like me and i’m blowing this out of proportion. probably doesn’t even like guys, either.”

 

“but he’s just… so nice and pretty, y’know?” jiho continues. “he’s perfect.”

 

“not this again,” kyung groans. “he’s not perfect, he’s got flaws just like the rest of us.”

 

“he’s the most perfect person i’ve ever met. did you know he can beat everyone in his class at arm wrestling? he’s on the honor roll and he’s also a really good artist. oh, he also plays baseball and he’s a singer and a photographer and he’s handsome and nice and smart and funny--”

 

“okay, loverboy, we get it,” kyung cuts jiho off. “he’s perfect, sure. but he has flaws too.”

 

“but he’s still a really great person,” jiho argues. “perfect is the word i’d use to describe him.”

 

kyung puts his hands up in surrender as taeil snickers. 

 

“sure, alright, whatever. ahn jaehyo is perfect, got it.”

 

jiho’s about to open his mouth to say something back, but he’s cut off by the sound of someone yelling  _ “hyuuuuuung!” _ off in the distance. he can see taeil perk up out of the corner of his eye and suddenly a white-haired humanoid puppy man known as pyo jihoon crashes into taeil’s waiting arms, fully engulfing the younger man in his large frame. 

 

“hi jihoonie,” taeil laughs, smiling into jihoon’s warm embrace. “how are you?”

 

jihoon sets taeil down, smiling brightly. jiho’s pretty sure he’s blind now.

 

“better now that you’re here,” he says with an attempt at a flirty wink which, just like most of what jihoon does, just ends up being really damn cute instead. “but i’m good! can i walk home with you guys?”

 

they can’t say no to his puppy-dog eyes, especially taeil, who immediately agrees and takes jihoon’s hand in his.

 

the entire way home, jiho can’t help but notice how taeil and jihoon look at each other. taeil looks like he thinks jihoon is the sun and jihoon taeil the stars. 

 

he wonders if he looks at jaehyo like that.

 

he wants to know if jaehyo will ever look at him like that.


	6. Chapter 6

he finds out the answer to that about a week later.

 

“has everyone picked out their partners yet?” miss lee asks, putting her hands together and looking at the class excitedly. “if you haven’t, you have one minute. go!”

 

jaehyo turns to look at jiho.

 

“you’re still okay with being my partner, right?”

 

what kind of person would turn jaehyo down? the chance to stare at him unabashedly? to capture his essence down on paper? certainly not jiho, that’s for sure.

 

“o-of course!” he stammers out with an awkward smile. jaehyo smiles back in turn, one of the warm, soft ones that that makes jiho’s heart melt.

 

jiho fidgets in his seat as jaehyo changes his so that they’re facing each other as miss lee passes out paper.

 

“first, we’ll just be working on a sketch,” she explains. “then we can transfer it to our final copy. get started! we’ll have the next couple of weeks to be working on this, so take your time!”

 

jiho immediately picks up his nice drawing pencils and studies the lines of jaehyo’s face as if he hasn’t a thousand times before. but looking at him now, drawing him from direct observation and not memory, he sees jaehyo as if he’s seeing him for the first time. the slope of his nose, the arch of his eyebrows, the jut of his chin, soft hair falling over gentle cheekbones. it’s like seeing an angel.

 

he’s barely halfway through with drawing the base of jaehyo’s face when jaehyo says something.

 

“you’re not using the thumb method?”

 

jiho looks up, confused for a second. 

 

“oh! um, no. it never really worked out for me. i prefer just studying my subject with my eyes.”

 

jaehyo smiles, looking surprised.

 

“you’re really talented, jiho.”

 

“...thank you.”

 

they continue drawing in what jiho feels like is an awkward silence, but jaehyo looks perfectly content, and sometimes, just sometimes, they make eye contact.

 

jaehyo’s eyes are always soft and warm, and as much as he studies jiho, he’s never seen jaehyo look at anyone like that before. his eyes seem to be smiling, and he looks so kind and blissful that jiho can’t do anything but  immediately look back down so jiho doesn’t accidentally blurt out something stupid like comparing jaehyo’s eyes to melted chocolate, warm and inviting.

 

maybe jaehyo  _ is  _ looking at him like that, jiho hopes.


	7. Chapter 7

 

every other day for the next few weeks, jaehyo continues to look at him like that, and sometimes when they see each other in the hallways. jiho doesn’t want to admit that he’s adjusted his route to get to math so that he’s able to see jaehyo, but he doesn’t regret it, because whatever jaehyo’s doing, he stops to smile and wave at jiho.

 

the weeks are blissful. jiho looks forward to going to math and being in art, all so he can see jaehyo.

 

jaehyo keeps asking jiho to look at his paper, but jiho just blushes and hides it, saying that no, it’s a surprise, you can’t see it till it’s done. jaehyo smiles and says that jiho can’t see until he’s done, either.

 

he doesn’t want to admit that he’s putting everything he’s got into it, and has gone through almost a whole prismacolor eraser making sure every line and curve of jaehyo’s face is perfect, true to life. he wants to capture jaehyo’s cheekbones with his soft cheeks and the sparkle of life and happiness that jiho only wishes he had in jaehyo’s eyes.

 

and he does. all of jaehyo’s gentle and sloping curves of his face and to some extent the broad stretch of his shoulders jiho manages to capture down on paper, a beautiful replication of the beautiful boy in front of him. the pose that jiho’s captured jaehyo in is half from memory, half from the times jiho’s caught jaehyo looking at him. it’s jiho’s best work, by far. but still, it’s not perfect. he couldn’t ever capture perfection with pencil.

 

“can i see  _ now _ ?” jaehyo asks towards the end of class, eager. jiho swallows and mumbles back, “it’s not that good anyway”, but when jaehyo looks at it, his beautiful brown eyes widen and he looks like he’s seeing the sun for the first time.

 

“it’s--”

 

“it’s awful,” jiho says, trying to snatch the drawing back to turn it in. “i know.”

 

“no!” jaehyo yelps back, surprising both of them. “sorry, it’s just-- it’s the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen. you’re really talented, jiho. thank you.”

 

“no need,” jiho mumbles shyly. “i just tried my best to capture you all down on paper and--” he stops himself before saying anything else. “sorry.”

 

“no, don’t be sorry,” jaehyo reassures him. “it’s perfect. i love it. it’s like looking into a mirror, but better. can i take a picture of it?”

 

jiho immediately feels his face heat up as he manages back “s-sure” as jaehyo takes out his phone and snaps a picture.

 

“can i see your hand for a second?” jaehyo asks suddenly, pen in hand. where did he get that?

 

“uh,” jiho responds. “sure?”

 

jaehyo scribbles something down on the back of jiho’s right hand while jiho feels like he’s going to faint. jaehyo’s hands are so soft and so warm and jiho just wants to hold them and--

 

“do you wanna go out with me sometime? maybe for coffee or something? i wrote down my kakaotalk id.”

 

“yes,” jiho responds a little too quickly, red spreading across his cheeks. “me. woo jiho. go out with you. for coffee. good. sounds great.”

 

“awesome,” jaehyo says with a smile as the bell rings, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “text me whenever.”

 

“yeah,” jiho says, dazed as jaehyo walks out of the classroom with a smile. “alright.”

 

jaehyo hasn’t turned in his project yet, his drawing of jiho. he won’t mind if jiho takes a look, right?

 

so jiho flips over jaehyo’s paper quickly, and he has to take a minute to take it in.

 

it’s got jaehyo’s personal touch to it, and jiho sees himself like he never has before.

 

jaehyo’s made him beautiful, but it still looks like him. this is how jaehyo sees him.

 

suddenly, he...feels good about himself.

 

he wants to feel like this forever.


	8. Chapter 8

“i got his kakaotalk,” jiho excitedly relays to kyung and taeil as soon as they meet up, showing off his hand.  _ ahnjhyo _ , it says, in small, messy, but sharp letters. “he gave me his id! and his drawing of me is beautiful and he made me look so good even though i’m not and that’s how he sees me oh! and he asked me out, guys! he asked me out!”

 

“i’m sorry,” kyung says, shaking his head. “i didn’t catch  _ any  _ of that. slow down, loverboy.”

 

“he’s gay for woo jiho,” taeil declares loudly, walking ahead.

 

“yes,” kyung says, rolling his eyes. “i am fully aware. but what is it that jiho is going on about specifically?”

 

“he gave me his kakaotalk id! and asked me out for coffee! and drew me nicely!” jiho summarizes, the bright smile never dissipating from his face.

 

“god,” kyung sighs. “you’re acting like a twelve year old girl with her first crush.”

 

“although, i suppose that wouldn’t be too far from the truth,” he adds, earning him a punch in the shoulder from jiho.

 

“so, you gonna text him?” taeil says, kyung and jiho having caught up to him.

 

“well,” jiho mumbles. “i’ve been thinking about what to say all day and i can’t figure out--”

 

“oh my  _ god _ , woo jiho. just  _ say anything _ , i highly doubt he’ll judge you on the first text.”

 

“kyung, you pronounced the ‘g’ in lasagna when you were trying to read in english. i’m not taking advice from you,” jiho deadpans. kyung looks mortified and offended.

 

“why were you guys reading about lasagna?” taeil asks, brows knitted.

 

“i don’t remember, but the point is that kyung is wrong and i need to spend at least five hours trying to write the perfect text so jaehyo knows that i’m cool,” jiho responds, to which he quickly adds, “which i’m not.”

 

“well, you’re right about that,” kyung mumbles.

 

“shut up, mr. lasagna,” jiho rebutts, popping the ‘g’. kyung doesn’t do anything but glare at him, probably plotting his revenge.

 

jiho sees taeil pull out his phone out of the corner of his eye and right on cue, jihoon runs from out of nowhere into taeil’s arms.

 

“hi hyung! how was your day?” he says excitedly as usual, taking taeil’s hand and walking with them.

 

“it was alright. jiho had a great day though,” taeil mentions, poking a thumb in jiho’s direction. jiho flushes, hand going to touch the letters written on his other.

 

“what happened?” jihoon asks, eyes wide and curious. jiho can’t say no to that face.

 

“a really cute and perfect guy gave me his kakao and asked me out to coffee,” he says with a shy smile.

 

jihoon squeals, something jiho is definitely not accustomed to but taeil apparently finds adorable from the smile on his small face.

 

“that’s so great! i’m so excited for you, hyung! you should text him!”

 

“i know,” jiho sighs. “but i don’t know what to say.”

 

jihoon looks up at the sky for a moment, thinking, then back at jiho.

 

“well, just do whatever feels natural. don’t try to pretend to be something you’re not, because if he falls in love with you, it’s someone else he’s fallen for.”

 

jiho is stunned at this display of wisdom from a freshman.

 

“that’s how i got taeil!” jihoon says with a grin immediately afterwards, trying to cuddle taeil while walking, making the elder laugh.

 

maybe jihoon isn’t everything he seems on the outside, jiho thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO okay so that foreshadowing at the end made me fucking gASP when i proofread this and i'm like "wait this is MY fic i should know how it ends smh" i just thought this was kinda funny


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOY NELLY IT TOOK ME A WHILE  
> sorry i have trouble writing i have no idea what i'm doing with this fic lmao hope it's making sense

jiho lies on his bed, phone in hand and jaehyo’s id already in it, waiting to press the add friend button, thinking about what jihoon said earlier.

 

_ don’t pretend to be something you’re not, because if he falls in love with you, it’s someone else he’s fallen for. _

 

this hits home with jiho, jiho who’s spent his whole life trying to seem like someone who just didn’t care about anything and just did whatever he wanted to. but on the inside, he’s trying his best, even if it’s to no avail, and he feels held down by all the rules he adheres to. but he follows them anyway, because he knows that he has to.

 

go to school, get into a good university, get a good job, marry a nice woman, have kids, then die. that’s what his whole life was supposed to be, but jiho’s life is a mess. his bleached blond hair is a mess, his sharp and threatening eyeliner is a mess, his grades are a mess, and he’s just trying to pull himself together before he falls apart completely.

 

but jaehyo. jaehyo has everything together. jaehyo has perfect black hair that doesn’t need to be dyed every few months and tamed every morning, a perfect face that doesn’t need eyeliner or concealer to distract from small eyes or hide moles, and perfect grades that have gotten him on the honor roll without effort.

 

what was that saying? opposites attract?

 

for the mess of a life of him, jiho hopes that’s true.

 

so steeling his nerves, jiho picks up his phone, and sends the request to jaehyo along with a message:

 

_ Zico: hey! it’s jiho _

 

and sends it before he has time to think about it.

 

he immediately drops his phone on the plush comforter of his bed, buries his face in his hands with a groan, and like with everything else in his life, regrets it as soon as it happens.

 

a small vibration from his phone surprises him suddenly, and his scrambles to pick it up.

 

it’s jaehyo.

 

_ Jaehyo: hi! :) good to see you! _

 

_ Jaehyo: text you? lol _

 

jiho doesn’t know what to say now. jaehyo responded immediately, that means something, right? and oh god, what is he going to say next? that he just wanted to talk? talk about something they have in common… right, art, jiho thinks to himself, fingers tapping at the screen.

 

_ Zico: i took a look at the drawing you did of me, if that’s okay _

 

_ Zico: it’s really amazing, you’re a really good artist _

 

_ Zico: i kinda wanted to say thank you _

 

jiho word vomits into his messages, taking jihoon’s advice and just acting like himself. a total fucking idiot, he reminds himself. wow, he sounds dumb as hell right now, but jaehyo’s responding anyway?

 

_ Jaehyo:oh! thank you! i’m flattered, your art is so much better than mine. _

 

_ Jaehyo: but i did try my best and i hope it showed. _

 

_ Jaehyo: i’m glad that you saw it~ _

 

jiho’s about to have a stroke. so jaehyo put his all into the project too? that means that he didn’t just do it to get a good grade, he wanted jiho to see it and he  _ wanted  _ it to be as beautiful as it was. his heart flutters. it’s how jaehyo sees him, he thinks to himself again.

 

_ Jaehyo: so are you doing anything this weekend? _

 

is jaehyo asking him out?  _ is  _ he doing anything this weekend? if he is, he isn’t now. he’ll cancel whatever it is. he could be getting treatment for a deadly disease and he would probably cancel for jaehyo.

 

_ Zico: nope! did you want to go somewhere? _

 

jiho’s amazed at how confident he is when he just tries to be himself. he actually just asked jaehyo out back, and that’s more than he ever thought he could do.

 

he’ll have to thank jihoon.


End file.
